The Denver Foundation gives nearly $300,000 in grants to food providers

DENVER- The Denver Foundation announced today that it made 81 grants to food pantries, transitional housing programs, and other organizations that provide food relief to those most in need in Metro Denver. The grants, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $7,000, total $287,750. Generous foundations, individuals, and businesses contributed to the Foundation's Critical Needs Fund, mobilized in December to raise money for these grants.

The Foundation activated the Critical Needs Fund because of reports from local food providers of dramatically increasing need, coupled with "flat" or declining donations. Organizations indicate that they're seeing more and more people who have been laid off from jobs and are coping with the increasing costs of food and health care. "The number of first-time clients requesting assistance has gone up by thirty percent," reports Jon Holmer of Metro CareRing in Denver 's Capitol Hill Neighborhood. "We just don't have the resources to respond to this increase."

The problem extends throughout the Metro Area. The Parker Task Force has had a thirty-one percent increase between 2007 and 2008, while Growing Home in Westminster has seen the number of families it sees each week in its food pantry double in the last year, with increased reports of people choosing between paying rent and buying food. An interactive map of the grantee organizations is available at www.denverfoundation.org.

In response to this crisis, The Denver Foundation turned around the grants in record time. "The application deadline was January 20, and our staff was ready to send grants out the door by February 5," says Rich Lopez, chair of the Foundation's Board of Trustees. "We know how important it is to get the resources to those in need."

Numerous donors contributed to the Critical Needs Fund to address hunger this winter, including Colorado Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, the Donnell Initiative Fund, Tom Gamel, Mile High United Way , Caring for Colorado , and 30 Denver Foundation donor-advised fundholders. If donors continue to give to the fund, the Foundation anticipates being able to give additional support as contributions are received.

"The Denver Foundation hopes not just to provide immediate assistance to those in need, but also to raise awareness of the far-reaching impact of hunger insecurity and poverty on families throughout Metro Denver," says Jeff Hirota , Vice President of Programs for the Foundation. "We hope that leaders in government and in the private sector will join with nonprofits in helping meet the needs of those most vulnerable for the long term - not just in emergency situations like the one we're facing today."

About The Denver Foundation: The Denver Foundation is a community foundation that inspires people and mobilizes resources to improve life in Metro Denver. Last year, the Foundation awarded $62 million in grants. The Denver Foundation has two roles: stewarding an endowment to invest in meeting current and future needs for the Metro Denver community, and managing over 800 charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families and businesses.For more information, visit www.denverfoundation.org.